In the past few weeks, on Wednesday
evenings, I've had the opportunity to speak and I've been trying
to see and show the total spiritual deadness and sinfulness of all
men. And it's a pretty bleak picture.
As a result of this deadness, we've seen our absolute need
of the omnipotent, omniscient, sovereign mercy and grace of
God to give us life and repentance. We saw the valley of dry bones,
those bones which were scattered all over. Ezekiel was to preach
to these bones, but in verse 4 it said, God spoke, and that's
when the movement occurred. God does it all. But what about
the child of God whom he saved? Brother Jeffrey spoke the other
night about our two natures, the old man and the new man,
and the constant struggles that believers have. For we know that
the law is spiritual, but I am carnal, sold under sin. If you
would, turn to Romans 7. Rupert was speaking a while ago,
and he said, let's turn to Romans 7. That's the first page of my
thing. I said, uh-oh, but we're in good
shape. It's okay if we hear it twice. In Romans 7, we read the words
of Paul. And we must note that Paul was
not a new believer at this point in his life. As Rupert said,
it had been 20 years since he was converted on that road to
Damascus. 20 years. He shows us the struggles that
we have. Sin never ends, even though we're
saved by the blood of a crucified one. So starting in verse 15,
it says, for that which I do, I allow not. For that I would,
that do I not. But what I hate, that do I. If then I do that which I would
not, I consent unto the law that it is good. Now then, it is no
more I that do it, but sin that dwelleth in me. For I know that
in me, that is in my flesh, dwelleth no good thing. For to will is
present with me, but how to perform that which is good, I find not. For the good that I would, I
do not, but the evil which I would not, that I do. Now if I do that, I would not,
it is no more that I that do it, but sin that dwelleth in
me. I find in a law that when I would
do good, evil is present with me. For I delight in the law
of God after the inward man. But I see another law in my members,
warring against the law of my mind and bringing me into captivity
to the law of sin which is in my members. Oh, wretched man
that I am. Not was, but am. 20 years after
this man, after God had saved this man. O wretched man that
I am. Who shall deliver me from this
body of death? And I thank God through Jesus
Christ our Lord. So then with the mind I myself
serve the law of God, but with the flesh the law of sin. This
morning, I want us to see the sins and transgressions of an
Old Testament saint and king. I want to see his plea for mercy
and the forgiveness through the efficacy of Christ's blood. God's
servant David was a man of remarkable character. Grace had made him
a man of integrity, principle, and courage in the cause of God's
honor. He was an humble man, a believing man, a faithful man,
and a holy and righteous man. He stood head and shoulders above
his peers. The Lord God himself tells us
that David was such a man. However, by nature, he was no
better than any other man, but grace made him a new creature. God himself declares, I have
found David the son of Jesse, a man after my own heart, which
shall fulfill all my will." David was a chosen man of God, redeemed
by Christ, born again and called by the Holy Spirit. He was a
righteous man, greatly and mightily used of God as no other man in
his generation. He was the man through whom Christ
came into this world. Our Savior, who is the Son of
God, came into this world as the Son of Man through David's
lineage. Jesus Christ, the Son of Man,
is the Son of David. David was a remarkable, remarkable
man. But how is David remembered?
Take a moment and think, how do you remember David? When you think, what do you think
of when you hear his name? For most people, I suspect one
of the top two or three things on your list that comes to mind
about David is when he committed adultery and murder. David took Uriah the Hittite's
wife, committed adultery, and then had Uriah killed on the
battlefront, murdered on that battlefield. What a horrible
blight upon the name of such a remarkable man. but it is written
in the scriptures for our learning and admonition. The scriptures
are faithful and do not hide men's sins, but it reveals them
to us in order to show us one of two things, either the complete
damnation of their souls because of those sins or the complete
salvation of their souls by the glorious redeeming grace purchased
and provided for them through the precious blood of the Lord
Jesus Christ. Once David had committed these
horrible crimes, God left him alone. This guilt of this unrepentant
sin laid and burned in his heart for nine long months. And I'm
sure that during those long months of darkness, his soul was heavy,
his heart smote him, and he lamented the evil that he had done. I'm
quite certain that he went to bed many nights. with the face
of his faithful friend, Uriah the Hittite, on his mind. How
many sleepless nights must he have had trying to silence the
tormenting accusations of his conscience? God left David alone
for these nine months to seethe in his sin. During this time,
he found no comfort for his soul. He penned no psalms. His heart
was out of tune. His soul was like a tree in the
winter. The sap of life was still there. But it's just in the root. And David appeared to be dead.
Indeed, David himself said, when I kept silence, my bones waxed
old through my roaring all the day long. For day and night,
thy hand was heavy upon me. My moisture is turned into the
drought of summer. Have you or I ever been in the
same condition of unrepentant sin? If you would, turn to 2
Samuel chapter 11. We don't have time to read through
the whole description of what took place here. Let's start with verse 27. 2 Samuel 11 27. And when the wife of Uriah Bathsheba,
that's Bathsheba, heard that Uriah, her husband, was dead,
she mourned for her husband. And when the morning was passed,
David sent and fetched her to his house, and she became his
wife, and bare him that illegitimate son. But the thing that David
had done displeased the Lord. Chapter 12, And the Lord sent
Nathan unto David. And he came unto him and said
unto him, There were two men in one city, the one rich and
the other poor. The rich man had exceeding many
flocks and herds, but the poor man had nothing except one little
ewe lamb, which he had brought and nourished up. And it grew
up together with him and with his children. It did eat of his
own meat, and drank of his own cup, and lay in his bosom, and
was unto him as a daughter. And there came a traveler unto
the rich man, and he spared to take of his own flock, and of
his own herd, to dress for the wayfaring man that was come to
him. But he took the poor man's lamb,
and dressed it for him that was to come. And when David heard this, and
it says, and David's anger was greatly kindled against the man.
And he said to Nathan, as the Lord liveth, the man that hath
done this thing shall surely die. And he shall restore the
lamb fourfold, because he did this thing, because he had no
pity. And Nathan looked that king in
the eye and said, David, you are that man. You are that man. Let's get down to verse 12 for
time's sake. He repeated in the previous verses
all that he had done, just as a reminder to David, even though
he needed no reminder. But Nathan said, For you did
it secretly, but I will do this thing before all Israel and before
the Son. And what was David's response
to this revelation? And David said unto Nathan, I
have sinned against the Lord. Please note that God does punish
and chasten his own, but also note that forgiveness is declared
after confession is made. Look at the next verse. And David
said unto Nathan, I have sinned against the Lord. And Nathan
said unto David, the Lord also hath put away thy sin. You shall
not die. Howbeit, because by this deed
you have given great occasion to the enemies of the Lord to
blaspheme, the child also that is born unto thee shall surely
die." And this child died on the seventh day after his birth.
Here's a picture of Christ dying for the sins of his very own.
The innocent died for the guilty. One thing we must learn from
David's sin is this. You and I must never cease to
be aware of our own personal weaknesses arriving from the
depravity of our own hearts. How often have you thought to
yourself or said to others, I don't understand how a true believer
could ever do such and such a thing. What are you really saying is,
I would never do that. And I know that doctrinally,
We all believe in total depravity. But by some proud, foolish imagination,
we all think that we are the exception. And when you don't
think that you are, watch out. We would never say so, but we
all naturally think more highly of ourselves than we ought to.
So if we would now, let's turn to Psalms 51. This is our text
for today. Psalms chapter 51. Once again,
I'm not having enough time to read the whole psalm in its entirety.
We'll go through verse by verse or a couple statements by statements. Hawker introduces this chapter
as a penitential psalm, a repenting center psalm. penned by David
regarding his remarkable occasion in which we trace the sorrowful
workings of his soul in devout humiliation for his sins before
God. And I don't know how many, many,
many, many years we went through the scriptures, and I never paid
attention what was above the songs, who they were written
to. Well, here it says it's to the
chief musician. And if you look through Hawker's,
you'll see that this musician, this chief musician, is Christ. So to Christ, a psalm of David,
when Nathan the prophet came unto him after he had gone into
Bathsheba. So we know the picture, we know
the story. This is a psalm which is perfectly
suited for private meditation and individual penance, but is
also equally well adapted for an assembly of the poor in spirit. Have mercy upon me, O God, according
to thy lovingkindness, according to the multitude of thy tender
mercies. Blot out my transgressions. David appeals immediately to
the mercy of God, even before he mentions any of his sins that
he'd committed. Mercy is God not giving us what
we do deserve. While grace is God giving us
what we do not deserve. The side of mercy is a salve
for crying eyes of the falling penitent sinner. Pure mercy must
ever be present for the pardoning of sin. So this is David's cry. Have mercy upon me, O God. David's guilt was great and the
gentleness of God's mercy, loving kindness, and multitude of his
mercies, which when I was reading through this and studying, these
are verbs and they're all, they build upon each other, with loving
kindness, I mean, excuse me, with the multitude of tender
mercies, which according to the Greeks is the highest degree
of compassion in which human nature is susceptible. All of
these are needed, mercy, loving kindness, and the multitude of
his tender mercies to give a burdened soul relief. And oh, how we need
our sins blotted away. There were two trains of thoughts
that I found while preparing this lesson. One is that these
revolts were recorded against us as they would be in a register. And the petition is for the Lord
to erase these lines and many, many strokes may be needed. but God has a multitude of mercies. The other is like the wiping
or the cleansing of a dish so that afterwards nothing remains
on it. In both cases, the sinner is pleading for a thorough removing
of their sins. Verse two, watch me thoroughly
or throughly, excuse me, for mine iniquity and cleanse me
from my sin for I acknowledge my transgression and my sin is
ever before me. Wash me throughly. An external
cleansing is not enough. It's not sufficient. I'm a sinner
invested to the core, and I must be purged and cleansed. Remember
what Christ told the Pharisees? Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees,
hypocrites, for you're like the whited sepulchres, which indeed
appear beautiful outward, but are within full of dead men's
bones and all in cleanness. I acknowledge my transgression
and they are they which have put me in this realm of despair.
I sin day and night and I must have the mercy, thy mercy, oh
Lord. Just and holy is thy name. I am all in righteousness, false
and full. of sin I am, thou art full of
truth and grace. Verse four, against thee, thee
only have I sinned and done this evil in thy sight, that you mightest
be justified when you speakest and clear when you judgest. What
a striking confession. Sin had clearly been done to
Uriah as well as to Bathsheba. But David clearly states that
his sins were directly leveled against God. Had he not lost
his reverence for God, then he could not have injured men. David
sees his sins and all their filthiness were viewed by Jehovah when they
were executed. And since God witnessed it, then
he will be clear when he judges. We cannot present any argument
against God's just judgment toward us. His judgment is always right
in condemning the sinner as well as redeeming that blood-bought
sinner. O Lord, may we know that justice
and judgments are thy habitation, are thy throne. Mercy and truth
shall go before thy face. Have mercy on me, O God. Verse five tells us, behold,
I was shapen in iniquity, and in sin my mother did conceive
me." Here, David goes back to the origin of sin, his original
depravity, which he inherited from Adam. And I was talking
with a friend this week, and we started discussing a little
bit, and he said, Craig, he said, I just
believe in my free will. I just believe in my free will.
And hopefully through our discussion, maybe he'll go and read some
of the things we talked about. Because folks, sin, that's our
being. That's what we are. It's what
we know, and it's what we do. Everything we do is tainted with
sin. But David, he's not using this
as an excuse to justify himself. But he uses this rather to complete
his confession that he has sinned against God. It is always important
to note that all children of Adam from all times, from every
tribe, every kindred, and every nation are conceived in sin. There are no exceptions. I don't care how wonderful grandbaby
is, there are no exceptions. We're all descendants of Adam,
and henceforth, we come forth from the room speaking lies.
However, there is one and only one, one man who entered this
world without this curse. He is the Lord Jesus Christ,
and he does not have Adam's seed. But when the fullness of time
was come, God sent forth his son, made of a woman, made under
the law, He is the seed who is spoken of in Genesis 3.15, where
it says, and I will put enmity between thee and the woman, and
between thy seed and her seed. It shall bruise his head, thy
head, and you shall bruise his heel. Christ does not have that
sin-tainted descendency from Adam. His father is God. Verse six, behold, you desires
truth in the inward parts and in the hidden part, you shall
make me to know wisdom. David, the penitent center feels
that God is teaching him the truth concerning his nature,
which he had not before perceived. The love of the heart, the mystery
of the fall and the way of its purification is hidden mysteries
that we must attain. And is a great blessing to know
that the Lord will bless us to know this. No one can teach the
innermost but God. Behold Him, for He knows our
frame and He remembers that we are just dust. Purge me with
hyssop and I shall be clean. Wash me and I shall be whiter
than snow. Hawker defines this hyssop as
a deriving from Aesop, an herb. The Lord pointed to the use of
this shrub for the sprinkling of the blood on the doorpost
and lentils at the Passover. The shrub itself is very humble,
if not to say an uninviting plant in its outward appearance. Like
Christ, of whom it is said, he had no beauty in him that we
should desire him. But like Christ, the fragrancy
of it is sweet, though mingled with bitter. Christ and his cross
cannot be separated, but must be received together. Depend
upon this, both are blessed guests worth receiving, and however
painful to the flesh that the blood of the cross may be, yet
like the waters of Mer to Israel, Jesus' presence sweetens and
sanctifies. So purge me with hyssop, and
I shall be clean. Wash me, and I shall be whiter
than snow. As mentioned in the definition,
this hyssop branch was used to sprinkle the blood. And Christ
declares, God declares, when I see the blood, I will pass
over you. Sprinkle the atoning blood upon
me with the appointed means. Give me the reality which all
ceremonies symbolize. Nothing but the blood of the
Lord Jesus can take away the blood stains. Nothing but the
strongest purification can avail to cleanse this center. Let the
sin offering purge, let the sin offering purge my sin. Let him
who was appointed to atone, that is Christ, execute his sacrifice
in me. May this washing be more than
a typical cleansing. No, it must be a real spiritual
purification which shall remove the pollution of my nature. Father, I have wondered from
Thee. Often has my heart gone astray. Crimson do my sins seem
to me. Water cannot wash them away. Jesus, to the fountain of Thine,
leaning on Thy promise I go. Cleanse me by the washing divine,
and I shall be whiter than snow. Make me to hear the joy and gladness
that the bones which you have broken may rejoice. David's ear was dulled to the
gladness due to his sins, but he prays here for the ability
to hear. For he knows that the hearing
ear and the seeing eye, the Lord had made even both of them. We
should desire to hear the double joy, the joy and gladness of
sin's pardon and the forgiveness granted. Hide thy face from my
sins and blot out all my transgressions. William Cooper, and if you see
it spelled, it looks like Calper, but it's William Cooper, the
author of the hymn, There is a Fountain Filled with Blood.
He expounded on this verse by writing in the third verse that
David's sin was always in David's sight, but now he prays that
God would remove it out of God's sight. This is a very good order. If we hold our sins in our eyes
to pursue them, God will cast them behind his back to pardon
them. If we remember them and repent,
he will forgive and forget. Otherwise, the sin from which
man turns not, God looks to that sin, and if God looks to it,
surely He will punish it. So David writes, Create in me
a clean heart, O God, and renew a right spirit within me. We need a new heart. The old
one is decayed, corrupt, dead, and trespasses and sins. And
according to the old writers, this creation is from nothing.
David uses the same word as Moses used when he wrote of the creation,
creating something from nothing. It is a word used as a work of
God, showing us that this change can only be wrought of God. We
have no ability to assist in this creating a new heart. If
you would, turn to Ezekiel chapter 36. starting with verse 23. And I will sanctify my great
name, which was profaned among the heathen, which you have profaned
in the midst of them, and the heathen shall know that I am
the Lord, saith the Lord God, when I shall be sanctified in
you before their eyes. For I will take from among you
the heathen, and gather you out of all countries, and will bring
you into your own land. Then will I sprinkle clean water
upon you, and you shall be clean from all your filthiness, and
from all your idols will I cleanse you. A new heart also will I
give you, and a new spirit will I put within you, and I will
take away the stony heart out of your flesh, and I will give
you a heart of flesh. And I will put my spirit within
you and cause you to walk in my statutes. And ye shall keep
my judgments and do them. And ye shall dwell in the land
that I gave to your fathers. And ye shall be my people. And
I will be your God. And I will also save you from
all your uncleanness. And I will call for the corn
and will increase it and lay no famine upon you. And I will
multiply the fruit tree and the increase of the field, that ye
shall receive no more reproach of famine among the heathen.
Then shall you remember your own evil ways and your doings
that were not good, and you shall loathe yourselves in your own
sight for your iniquities and for your abominations." Back
to Psalm 51, verse 11. Cast me not away from thy presence,
and take not thy Holy Spirit from me. O God, our sins have
caused us to turn from you, but do not let your Spirit turn from
us. Do not banish us from your face, and favor us in favor as
you did Cain. Do not withdraw the comforts,
counsels, assistances, or quickenings of your Holy Spirits, or else
I'm a dead man. Psalm 1611 says, you will show
me the path of life. In thy presence is fullness of
joy. At thy right hand are the pleasures,
are pleasures forevermore. And in verse 12, we have David's,
the last verse in David's confession and plea for pardon. Restore
unto me the joy of thy salvation and uphold me with thy free spirit. The salvation that David had
known, and had known that it's the Lord's own, he had also felt
the joy of being saved in the Lord, but it had now been lost
for a while, and hereby he longs for its restoration. None but
God can give this back to us. None but God gave it to us in
the first place. Our plea is for God to make us
right again, and to forever uphold us with his Holy Spirit, lest we
fall again. We plead for God to remember
his promise that he will abide for us forever. It's here where
the Psalm turns to David's gratitude and the way which he resolves
to display it. It says, then will I teach transgressors
thy ways. and sinners shall be converted
unto thee. It's a blessed mark of true repentance
when after our recovery, as Spurgeon wrote, we do not shy away from
telling others of our own worthlessness and the divine goodness that
has raised us up. Knowing that we were all sinners
and not only the precious blood of Christ, that is our only hope
and we must preach this truth. we must preach Christ and Him
crucified. Deliver me from blood guiltiness,
O God, God of my salvation, and my tongue shall sing aloud Thy
righteousness. O Lord, open Thou my lips, and
my mouth shall show forth Thy praise. David had been the means
of the death of Uriah, his faithful friend. Honest penitents Do not
cover their sins but own them before God as they are. David's
sins, whatever they were, are no more heinous than our own
thoughts that we've committed in our heart. Open our lips to
show forth the praise of thy forgiveness. For you desires
not sacrifice, else would I give it. Thou delightest not in burnt
offering. The sacrifices of God are a broken
spirit, a broken and a contrite heart, O God, you will not despise."
I didn't write this down, but John Calvin made mention that
there is no sacrifice in the Old Testament under the law that
would give forgiveness for adultery and murder. There's not a sacrifice
for that. That was to be put away with
by death of that man. Spurgeon makes four points here
regarding verse 16 and 17. Man would gladly do something
toward their own salvation if they could, but they desire not,
or else God would give it. All that man can do is not of
the least avail. If we could do anything, there's
nothing that we could give to God. All the ceremonial observances
of the Jewish and Gentile churches could not produce pardon for
a single transgression of the moral law. The offering of a
man which God will not despise is a broken and contrite heart.
And all other requirements for salvation, God himself will and
does provide. Hebrews 10, 12 says, but this
man, Christ, After he had offered one sacrifice for sins, sat down
forever, excuse me, forever, sat down on the right hand of
God, from henceforth expecting to his enemies be made his footstool.
For by one offering, he has perfected forever them that are sanctified. Whereof the Holy Ghost also is
a witness to us. For after that, he had said before,
this is the covenant that I will make with them after those days,
saith the Lord. I will put my laws into their
hearts, and into their minds will I write them. And their
sins and iniquities will I remember no more. Now where remission
of these is, there is no more offering for sin. Do thy good
pleasure unto Zion. Build thou the walls of Jerusalem.
Then ye shall be pleased with the sacrifices of the righteousness,
with the burnt offerings of the whole burnt offerings, then shall
they offer bullets upon thine altar." So in conclusion, we have seen
a mighty man, a righteous man, fall into great sin due to the
desires of the flesh, and we have seen his prayer for mercy,
and we see The forgiveness of God and the God of forgiveness
who does and delivers. He does deliver his people from
their sins. May this pair of David be ever present in our
souls. And may our penitential prayers.
Always be contained in this glorious song. Lord. Be merciful to me. The center
they mean.